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Wednesday, December 6, 2017

Deadman #2 Review and **SPOILERS**

G-G-G-G-Ghosts!

Written, Drawn and Colored By: Neal Adams

Lettered By: Clem Robins

Cover By: Neal Adams

Cover Price: $3.99

On Sale Date: December 6, 2017

**NON SPOILERS AND SCORE AT THE
BOTTOM**

I imagine that a ghost can’t really haunt another
ghost, but they can probably be very annoying. “There’s Harold again, with the
chains. When is he gonna give it a break?” There are probably curt smiles
exchanged in spectral hallways, polite banter at the ghoul coffee machine, but
for the most part they keep it protoplasmically professional. Let’s see how the
other half doesn’t live, shall we? Check out my review of Deadman #2 by Neal Adams, right here!

Explain
It!

There is no peaceful rest for the deceased of the
DCU. You won’t be dead five minutes before one or more comic book haints come
knocking on your coffin lid, looking for a favor. Or worse, you’ve be
reincarnated as a baby when Boston Brand breathes his spook breath through his
cracked lips right in your face. This is what caused the Sensei to erupt from
his infant trappings and battle Deadman on the ethereal plane, almost besting
him before his ministrations threatened the life of the corporeal body. He
slinked back into the tubby kid, but continued to spit epithets at Deadman in
baby talk…where’s Sugar & Spike when you need ‘em? Tortured by the
development of his mentor-turned-nemesis having come back as a child, Deadman
rages in a three-panel progression that should be a shoe-in for the Weirdie
Awards. All that hollering grabs the attention of a fellow who needs no and
rarely gets any introduction: the Phantom Stranger!

The Stranger is as elusive and cryptic as ever,
annoying Deadman so much that he cold cocks him in the face. We’re not even
halfway through the issue, and there’s already been two ghost fights. The
Phantom Stranger is no fighter, however, instead directing Boston back to the
Hills Brothers Circus, where his twin sibling Cleveland is maintaining the
high-flying trapeze act that Boston helmed before his murder. There, he’s able
to stop a similar attempt on Cleveland’s life, but one of his wire-act cohorts
is shot through the chest by a high-powered sniper rifle. Deadman chases this
hood and hops in a cop’s body to riddle the crook with bullets. Seems the crook
was sent by the Sensei, and lives through the hail of lead because he’s wearing
a Kevlar vest.

And this—yes, this
is the point that things get strange. Hopping in circus strongman Tiny’s body,
Deadman chases down the murderer and confronts him, eventually punching him right in the dick. This
shatters his pelvis, and Deadman follows up by punching dude right in the
sternum, breaking his rib cage. Isn’t socking someone’s Johnson enough
ignominy? After tossing the thug into a circus trailer containing a lion, the
Phantom Stranger shows up…and then the Spectre…and then Etrigan. It’s getting
to be a regular Dead Man’s Party! Seems the Spectre is there as an emissary of
God and Etrigan as an agent of the Devil…and they’re sure to have one heck of a
chat in the next issue.

Once again, Neal Adams presents a very strange but
compelling story, the violence contained but excessive where applied, and of
course Deadman looks appropriately tortured when shown on-panel. I think this
is some of Neal Adams’ best artwork in recent memory, and in terms of page
layout this comic book is a master class. In terms of coherence, however…well,
it’s understandable, just very intense. There are no small emotions in this
comic book, it is all the most hideous sides of anger and the most wrought
expressions of anguish without anything in between. All I can say is that you
either dig it or you don’t, and I do. The only fellow missing from the end of
this issue is Gentleman Ghost, but there are still four more to go and I am not
taking anything for granted.

Bits and
Pieces:

Some intense spectral battles and a devastating beatdown on the grounds of a circus gives way to a meeting of some of the DCU's most famous folks from the afterlife. The emotion is keyed really high in this comic, which might turn some people off. But if you can stand the dizzying effect of these high-flying feelings, then you might find this trapeze act to your liking.

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